Boat having rotor above a wing



ialJnited States Patent Inventor Ivan Troeng 5 Ekbacksvagen, Danderyd, Sweden Appl. No. 828,395 Filed May 27, 1969 Continuation of Ser. No. 718,815,

Apr. 4, 1968 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 Priority April 5, 1967 Sweden 4,708/67 BOAT HAVING ROTOR ABOVE A WING 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl B63h 7/00, B63b l/34 Field ofSearch l 15/35, 34,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,852,927 4/ l 932 Hall 244/51X 3,322,223 5/1967 Bertelsen 244/2X 3,426,982 2/1969 Markwood 244/1 7.25X

Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Blix Attorney Pierce, Scheffler and Parker ABSTRACT: Cataraman-type vehicle embodies (l) an airplane-type wing-like member connecting, and at right angles to, plural pontoons and (2) an inclined helicopter rotor forward of the wing-like member and adapted to blow an air stream under said connecting wing-like member. The rotor shaft is mounted for inclination laterally as well as forward and backward.

Patented Sept. 22, 1970 WJL Yaw.

BOAT HAVING ROTOR ABOVE A WING This application is a continuation of applicant's prior U.S.

Pat. application Ser. No. 718,815 filed April 4, 1968, now

Many earlier inventors have realized the importance of aero wing like members as being superior from the viewpoint of resistance, to the bottom surfaces generally used in planning boats. As a rule, the wing has been situated in the water which, however, has involved considerable drawbacks. The boat becomes deepgoing and is subjected to enormous stresses at heavy sea when the profiles are passing in the air now in the water. This mostly is caused by the shaft of the propeller and the rudder. These parts also cause so much resistance that the advantage of such boats is rather little. When in earlier designs the wing-like members are situated in the air their lifting force at low speeds will be so low that the resistance at low speeds, before the'speed of the boat has become high is very great. The object of the present invention is to completely eliminate these drawbacks.

The boat according to the invention consists of at least two (possibly three) pontoons and one or more wing like intermediate members located above the water surface and connecting the said pontoons. The said wing like part of the boat which normally may contain compartments and load spaces shall have its foremost part so much of the stern as is the total width of the boat. This gives space for a helicopter rotor at the foremost part of the boat. The invention is substantially characterized by the fact that an inclined helicopter rotor in the foremost part of the boat carries some half of the boat weight while it also provides the propulsion needed and gives to the wing-shaped part of the boat a high air velocity so that the lifting force of this part is great also at low cruising speeds.

The pontoons can be made of a shape similar to those ofa seaplane the step being, however, provided much farther forward. Between the said pontoons there are provided one or more wing-like members having the profile of an airplanewing which may contain compartments, motors or load spaces.

If now the center of gravity lies a little before the center of the lifting force caused by the wing and the rotor together only a small part of the weight, a few hundredths will at speed rest on the water by way of the far advanced steps, while the main part of the weight of the boat is carried by the. air forces generated by the rotor blades and the aero wing-like member (members) of the boat.

Due to the fact that the weight resting on the water has thus been reduced to a minimum the gliding ratio of the bottom surfaces will be of secondary importance and therefore one is free, to a very great extent, to shape the said bottom surfaces in accordance with the demands of sea worthiness and stability in contradiction to the bottoms of a common plane-boat, in which everything must submit to the demand 'of a speed producing shape. They also can have keels for preventing the passing out sideways of the air blown in under the wing like parts. These keels may, if so desired, serve as sledges if the boat is to be used on ice. On the insides of the forward parts of the pontoons there may be mounted wheels which can be lowered and serve as supports if the boat has to go up on the shore or ride over a surface of ice or flat ground. Thus the part of the boat weight which at normal cruising in the water is carried by the far advanced steps of the pontoons can be carried by the said wheels when they are lowered. This lowering can preferably be performed by means of an hydraulic equipment.

Until now we have said nothing about the steering of the boat, but this of course is a very important point. The steering may of course be done btyI normal rudders and the centrifu al forces which W1 cause e boat to roll over outwards in t e curves can be mastered by fins as shown for instance in the US. Pat. Neils 21,268 or by roll controlling surfaces as inan airplane. The method preferred is, however, to use the rotor for steering in the same way as it is used for the propulsion namely by its inclination.

Backward motion can be obtained by tilting its rotational surface backwards.

If the boat is cruising at high speed the boat can brake very simply by shutting the. throttle. This will give to the rotor a downwards directed force which will give a braking force. It will also produce a greater pressure of the pontoons to the water and this will give a high resistance. So the boat is easily brought to stop.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings by way of an example.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the boat and FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the boat.

The airplane wing-like member, 1, is part of the boat. 2 is pontoon and, 3 the central steering house for the pilot. This steering house has a fixing point for the rotor shaft 6, which fixing point can allow the rotor shaft and the rotor 5 to be inclined in any direction. The motor 4 is situated in the foremost part of the steering house. The tilting of the rotor can be performed for instance by any hydraulic equipment, which is not shown. Under the pontoons we can see the keel 7 which prevents the air from flowing out sideways under the pontoons. At the rear end of the boat there are fins 8 to give aerodynamical steering stability.

in order to drive the boat over other surfaces than water it may often be interesting to have a pair of wheels which can be pressed down so that they lift theformer part of the cratt. As the rear part is lifted by aerodynamic forces the boat will be easily driven over ice, sand and other surfaces. Such wheels are indicated at 9.

lclaim:

l. A boat to move on a surface of a body of water, comprismg:

a pair of pontoons in spaced relation;

an intermediate connecting wing member, having the profile of an airplane wing, extending across and rigidly fixed on the pontoons at a level definitely above the-normal waterline; v I y 3;

a helicopter-type rotor mounted in the foremost part of the boat and having a more lifiing than driving position and so disposed as, when in operation, to blow an air stream under said connecting wing member thereby inducing a lifting force to the wing member so that only a small percentage of the boat's weight is supported on the water surface; and

said rotor having means for tilting the rotor to desired positions, more lifting than driving, for driving the boat forwards and backwards and for steering the same from side to side. 

